What is soda from a fountain? Someone answered a question with this. I am assuming this is an American thing.?

Question

I live in Australia and I have often wondered when you hear about these American things what they actually are.

Thanks everyone so much for your answers. Very informative and interesting. Cheech in Australia we call it soft drinks. Or fizzy drink, but mainly its just soft drink. And we mostly only get it in cans and bottles, except for mcdonalds. At McDonalds the soft drink machine is behing the counter and the employee pushes a button and the drink comes out. No hose type thing at all. We don't have anything like that here. At Hungry Jacks you can dispense your drink yourself by putting cup under spout and pushing the button. I like the word soda or pop though. It sounds better than soft drink!

Answer 1

Around the turn of the century, what we now call soda (or pop) was dispensed at the drugstore or pharmacy - from a fountain like measuring tool. Later it became more of a "cafe" item - but the equipment hadn't changed much. A measure of syurp went into a glass along with the carbonated water both dispensed from a "fountain" -- thus the term soda fountain. I've provided you with some cool links of triva on the topic.

BTW if you're interested you can learn to make soda pop at home.

Answer 2

Yeah, in Kentucky, we also call all soft drinks cokes. Fountain drinks can be from a machine like the one in your mcdonalds or with a hose, usually at a bar, with numbers on the head of the hose and each one shoots out a different drink. It doesn't matter where it comes from as much as what it is. Normally, the carbonated water is already mixed with the syrup in a can or bottle, but with fountain drinks, they are separate and mix when it shoots into your cup from the machine. There are a couple of companies, such as Schweppes, that call their sodas fountain drinks, but they are in bottles and I don't know why they do this.

Southerners don't call sodas pop. Most people I know from the north call it pop and just about all the southerners I know hate it when people call it pop.

Answer 3

Soda is the same thing as pop or Soda pop. Like Coke, Pepsi, Root Beer, Orange Ne-hi, etc in a bottle or can. Soda from a fountain is the same things except is made by combining carbonated water and syrup from the flavors of the pop to make a similar beverage without the bottle or can.

Answer 4

Well i will give you 2 answers and both are correct.One is that any soft drink.Coke,Pepsi etc. is referred to as soda here.It is dispensed out of a sort of short hose into the glass. Also the US used to have a lot of ice cream parlors called soda fountains which served ice cream and drinks made with soda water. Hope this helps. Have a good one

Answer 5

A soda from a fountain is a figure of speech. It is also called a fountain drink. But anyways, instead of from a can, it is sprayed out of a hose type thing. It sort-of looks like a fountain, in other words, a fountain drink. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

I refuse to believe you don't have soda fountains in your country... I've been to various countries, and they all have had soda fountains in their fast food establishments... I think you're just confused from the term soda... When I was in Australia, the people we stayed with had a problem with us calling carbinated beverages soda... I forgot what you people call it though... Do you call it pop? Or is that just southern American people... Well, it's Coke, Pepsi, Sprite... Drinks like that

Answer 7

Its a soda machine that we have at fast food places or restaurants and convenience stores. The various drinks are listed and you pick the one you want. Put the cup under the spout, press the button and there it comes.

Answer 8

its a thing where u walk up to it push a button and the soda comes out.

Answer 9

FYI- in Florida it's all called Coke.


Even if it's Pepsi. Go to a restaurant, ask for a diet coke. They might say, "Diet Pepsi okay?"

And you're like, yeah- whatever. Diet Coke- because what you want is diet cola. We just call it all Coke.

Answer 10

im american and 16...SODA IS SODA.... no matter where it comes from...as long as it tastes like its suppose to we cud care less